The Ballarat Integrated Transport Plan is also drawing toward the end of its consultation stage so there is a sense of urgency for everyone to be part of that future. .

Read some highlights and priorities here

Do we want to stay reliant on or cars as our preferred mode of transport within the city? And is that even possible as the city continues to grow? Do we really want to add traffic congestion to our lives?

The parking grief over the last couple of years is probably only a foretaste of what these growing pains could look like.

Given as recently as 2016 only one percent of people used buses within Ballarat, it shows we have a long way to go when it comes to adopting alternatives.

But this is a great time to think big, to explore the full range of possibilities- not necessarily those dictated to by the habits or costs of the present. We also need to explore other applications that have set precedents elsewhere.

But most of all we need to get involved and discuss how we want that future to look.